1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless security, and, in particular, to controlling usage of mobile devices and data thereon using short-range wireless authorization systems and methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
As advances in electronics enable ever-smaller and lighter mobile devices such as laptop and pocket computers, PDA's, smart-cards, and cell phones, and as these devices increasingly store sensitive data, the need to secure such devices and the data they hold is becoming increasingly important.
A commonly used approach to securing such data is the use of a password which must be entered before the device may be used, or before certain data may be accessed. Requiring password access is a deterrent to theft of the device and the data on the device, as long as the person contemplating theft of the device knows it will be useless to him without the activating password. The negative implications of password usage include the need to periodically change passwords, and the need to remember what may be a sizable number of passwords for multiple devices.